Net Gun Captures Pesky Critters Alive

Net Gun Captures Pesky Critters Alive MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Pest Animals 24-4-37 When the props people making the movie "Jurassic Park" needed a novel way to capture a dinosaur, they called Wiley & Sons Guns, Wills Point, Texas, and talked to David Wiley. Wiley had exactly what they wanted: the Wiley Net Gun. This gun throws a 12-ft. sq. net over targets up to 60 ft. away. Wiley's Net Gun shoots a heavily loaded 30-06 blank. Gases from the exploding gunpowder enter an expansion chamber and then travel down four different barrels. Each barrel contains a foam projectile attached to a corner of the net. The net itself is tightly packed into a canister between the four barrels. When the gun is fired, the foam projectiles pull the net from the canister and carry it out to the target. "Ours is the only gun of its kind made in the U.S. and, to my knowledge, one of only two made worldwide," Wiley says. He developed his version of the net gun about 15 years ago, after looking at one made in New Zealand, which he felt was too heavy and difficult to use. The New Zealand net gun weighs about 30 lbs. and is priced at more than $3,000. Wiley's weighs only 16 lbs. and sells for $1,600. Buyers include farmers, city animal control officers and wildlife conservationists. He says they're great for catching big birds like ostrich or emus or even cattle and deer. "The net entangles the animal, making it difficult for it to move. Then you can do whatever you need to do. The net gun is not a rapid fire gun. It takes about 30 minutes to reload the net into the canister so if you need to capture several animals in a short time, you're going to need additional canisters. It takes 3 minutes to reload canisters. If it's difficult to get within 60 ft. of the animal to be captured, Wiley has a second netting device that lets the animal capture itself. The Net Trap is the same type of net-in-a-canister arrangement used by the Net Gun. It can be hung from a branch or beam and is set off when the animal goes after bait attached to a trip wire. Wiley has several different weights of netting available for both the Net Gun and Net Trap. "We recommend lightweight nets for most purposes, but sometimes heavier netting is required," he says. Wiley & Sons Guns was founded 40 years ago by C.B. Wiley, David's father. The Net Gun and Net Trap are part of their line of animal control products, which also includes a variety of tranquilizing guns. They also have a full service shop, making and repairing all types of firearms. A catalog of products and services is available upon request. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Wiley, Wiley & Sons Guns, 7007 VZ, County Road 20, Wills Point, Texas 75169 (ph 903 848-7912).

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